Phil Ivey used multiple prop bets to motivate him to win the event and some observers say he actually came off as passive and tight. It was clear he had only one goal in mind winning the tournament. While it’s clear the Grinder wants to win too, he realizes just making the final table is a huge accomplishment and he’s going to make the best of it. He told Cardplayer that he likes his chances, “Ive been in every situation poossible, in tournaments and I think, I’m more dangerous with a short stack than a big stack.” This may be the world’s most lucrative Sit and go poker tournament but it is still a poker tournament.

Again the parallels to Ivey’s run last year are apparent. Ivey also came in with an under average chip stack and despite his ballyhooed prowess couldn’t overcome the deficit. The Grinder is a very similar seventh in chips, and because of the extended final bubble play it requred to knock out 10th place Brandon Steven the blinds will be nipping at his heels. His short stack “ninja” skills will be tested in the grandest stage possible.

To put the just under 9 million dollar to first place number in perspective, the Grinder’s 8.9 million in earnings is already one of the highest in poker and he’d be doubling that. Phil Ivey is the current leader with 13.4 million and Daniel Negreanu is second with 12.6 million. The Grinder’s epic World Series would go down as maybe the greatest summer of all time at the Rio for any professional poker player ever. He would be tied for Player of the Year, he’d win the main event (something no previous Player of the Year has done), he’d have two bracelets (bookending them in the two biggest events of the Series) and have four final tables.

The other two final tables? They weren’t events to sneeze at either. One was the 10k Seven Card Stud World Championship and the other the 10k Limit Hold’em World Championship. What a range of disciplines for the Grinder to conquer. Even more impressive is the fact that Mizrachi has made many of these deep runs with his brothers having almost as much success. While it’s in dispute if this has been the year of the Grinder, if he goes out first, there is no doubting it’s been the summer of the Mizrachis.

The four Mizrachi brothers all went deep in the Main Event, and Michael shared the 50k Players Championship final table with his brother. His financial misfortune he unfortunately also shared with his family. His brother Robert jointly owned one of two Grinder condos that were facing foreclosure. The Grinder also had a 339k tax lien from the federal government for back taxes.

His totals at the World Series so far? 1.559 million for the Poker Playe’s Championship. Just under 69k for 6th place in the seven Card Stud World Championship. Just under 50k for eight place in the Limit Hold’em World Championship. He had one other cash a 29th place in the Mixed Event 348 for 6k. With 1.68 million and possibly 9 million more to come he could have a 10 million dollar summer. Even if he’s backed and only gets half of that, the Grinder is looking at 5 million to the good. That should keep the tax men away and probably pay off the condos.

Back then back-taxes, foreclosures, and poorly managed tournament wins among a spiderweb of backing agreements were topics everybody were discussing in regard to Mizrachi.  He seemed in a hole with no way out, he’d almost be better off hitting the slots.  Using the World Series results of the Grinder in the past, most thought that summer would only make things worse.   Sure, the Grinder has had 15 cashes at the World Series but five of the came in his rookie season in 2005.  As for a big score?  He had never won a bracelet and seemed to run as bad or worse than anybody when it mattered most. 

One tournament into the Series, the 50k buy-in Players Championship, turned into his first bracelet, and all those whispered conversations had changed into euphoric loud congratulations.  Even if he was broke surely he had won enough to be at least be back to even.  Well liked on the circuit it was a feel good story, and if that was the conclusion to the tale it was a satisfactory one.

Mizrachi wasn’t done.  With a strong follow up in several other events and more cashes during the World Series, Mizrachi entered the Main Event as one of the few players to be able to win the Player of the Year award.   Granted it was an almost impossible shot to tie Frank Kasella on points, because all Mizrachi had to do was win the entire thing.  With over 7000 runners this year that seemed preposterous, but then again a couple of months ago it seemed like Mizrachi’s financials would drown his poker career and he’d go the way of sob stories TJ Cloutier and Eskimo Clark. 

Mizrachi comes from a family of gamblers and while nobody’s suggested Mizrachi has played craps at the stakes or regularity of Cloutier or Phil Ivey, there were whispers going up and down the Rio’s hallways he was broke.  Now, the only whispers are about whether or no Mizrachi can do what Phil Ivey couldn’t do last year and be the big name pro at the final table that wins the title.

Mizrachi’s success on the WPT, which got a lot of TV time during the Travel Channel’s high day of broadcasting the game, makes him a bit of a household name.  Well, as “household” as a poker player not named Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, or Phil Hellmuth can be.  If he wins this Main Event in November he’ll move into that category.  Again, prior to the World Series or even during it, that type of recognition seemed light years away.

Don’t underestimate the Grinder.  Mizrachi lived up to his nickname on his way to the final table.  His stack got precipitously short on a number of occasions and he just dug in and grinded his way back.  He climbed all the way to the top of the chip-leaders and battled back after losing big pots.  His steady play and steely disposition had to put fear in his opponents when they return.

Certainly, eyes will be on John Duhamel and John Dolan, who are 1-2 in chips but nobody’s going to tangle with the Grinder too much if they can help it.  Dolan showed the nerve to amass chips on the bubble and Duhamel won a couple of critical and huge pots, but the Grinder isn’t going anywhere.

He knows how to play poker successfully in Europe and in the United States. In fact, this will not be his first World Series of Poker cash as he finished in the money (157th) for just under 4k at $1500 No Limit Hold ‘Em event this year. He’s also made two five figure scores, both in Europe. At the 2010 EPT Deauville Main Event (he finished 97th) for a little over 11k and at the 2009 Euro No Limit Hold Hold’Em IPT San Remo 4, 500 Euro (buy-in) he went to the cage to collect a touch over 11k for a second place finish. In 2008, he won just under 9k for his 300 Euro (buy-in) at the No Limit Hold’Em Royal Poker Tour, where he also finished second.

Candio played a huge hand against Joseph Cheong that really propelled to the November Nine. On day 8 of the World Series of Poker main event Candio called a 3 bet from Cheong prior to flop. Candio took a risk with 7s5s and stuck to his hand. The flop was six of hearts, five of clubs and six of clubs. Cheong fired again. Candio cagelily raised Cheong’s 1.1 million chip bet to 4.4 million. Action back to Cheong who shoved. After some time in the tank, Candio put his tournament at risk with his two pair.

Cheong flipped over pocket rockets just the kind of a hand that would 3bet preflop. The turn gave Candio new life. Unlike the Italian national soccer team the Azzuri in the World Cup four years ago, Candio had to catch up and catch up fast. A country that stakes it’s national identity on hard-nosed defense had a poker player in desperate need of some instant offense.

The turn was kind to Candioas an 8 fell. He caught his breath as the river was even kinder. A 4 ended Cheong’s hopes of knocking out Candio and Candio’s risky play was rewarded. This type of risk taking with a pair of fives was atypical for Candio. As the bubble for the final table neared Candio did what many before him has done. Perhaps, understanding far more was at stake than just another final table, Candio was going to get there regardless. While others opened up their games and grew their stacks, Candio sat tight and just waited for premium hands.

Surrounded by sharks like Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, John Racener, John Dolan, the sledding will be rough for Candio. His father is an extremely famous lawyer and Candio was supposed to follow in his fathers footsteps. Like a Italian version of the movie Rounders Candio was drawn to poker and not to the legal profession. He studied the classics in college including Greek and Latin but found the drama in the live poker tournaments too tense to resist.

Candio, who is an entrepreneur, has his own poker themed clothing line but would like nothing better than to get into the jewelry business in November.

Cuoung Nguyen unlike the other Nguyen-ers is playing on his fourth live poker tournament.  With the aggression that comes so easy to a rank novice Cuong steamrolled through the World Series of Poker’s Main Event early days as cooly as if he were playing a $5 Sit’n go tournaments.  His pressure with a big stack and his willingness to let it ride took him quickly to the top of the chipleader board.  Unlike many that have come before him he’s stayed there and his aggression hasn’t come back to bite him yet. 

Born in Vietnam, Cuong found poker a little late in life, but like the other November Niners he is delighted he found it.  The 37 year old Medical supplies distributor from California understood a few key principles in live tournament poker but applied them with the heart of a champion.  Aggression wins tournaments, chips win tournaments, and you have to be willing to gamble to win tournaments.  Nguyen didn’t sit on his chips, didn’t avoid confrontations, and applied pressure through-out the event.

He returns in November with the eighth largest chip stack and probably is forced to find a new way to play.  He won’t be able to bully any of the stacks at the table with only 9.65 million in chips.  Though, his aggression early on could certainly flip things back to the way he likes them.  The Santa Ana native will be itching to return to his reign of terror on the Main Event felt.

A hand that typifies his fearlessness was a pot he played to knock out Patrick Eskander.  Eskander shoved preflop, Nguyen called with Pascal LeFrancois also calling.  The board dropped Q910 and Nguyen pushed out a bet.  The frenchman left Nguyen to try and knock out Eskander on his own.  Nguyen turned over KQ for top pair, Eskander had but A7 for Ace high.  The two waited with bated breath as the turn and the river were dealt out.  Nguyen breathed a sigh of relief as a 10 fell on the turn, and exhaled even bigger as a King hit the river gave him two pair.  Eskander headed for the exit, and could only wish in retrospect a Jack was dropped on the turn instead of the 10.

Nguyen held the chip lead in the entire tournament 22 eliminations prior to that.  Nguyen won a huge pot against the chip-leader at the time Theo Jorgensen.  Nguyen didn’t mind mixing it up with one of the few guys that could eliminated him on day 6.   In a hand that typified Nguyen’s play the California check-raised a pot with top pair.

Perhaps, reckless but successful.  The hand had three players see the flop.  Nguyen checked, Theo Jorgensen bet out with the board reading Kc5h9c.  Nguyen looked at KJ in the hole (jack of clubs) and found the commitment to push a bet over the top, raising Jorgensen’s 525k bet to 1.5 million.  Jorgensen  pumped that up to four million.  That was over half of Nguyen’s stack of 7.6 million. 

Nguyen tanked and shoved all-in.  Jorgensen called withh the Ac3C for the nut flush draw.  When the board bricked out for Jorgensen he was crippled and Nguyen took over the leader spot with almost 20 million in chips.

Unlike some of the November Niners Jason Senti has a home page.  He’s atypical of the mix, but with a first name starting with J he was close to being very similar to 33% of the remaining players. If his parents had named him John instead of Jason he’d be like three other players at the final table; John Dolan, Jonathan Duhamel and John Racener. 

Known online as PBJaxx, Senti started life in Grand Forks, ND. He didn’t travel too far to get his college degree staying in his home state of North Dakota. With a penchant for math he went into engineering and earned a B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of North Dakota. This would be where Norman Chad would say “I believe they are known as the Wrambling Wreck.” Side note: last year it was the Raging Cajuns and the year before it was the Demon Deacons. Talk aboout a joke wearing thin.

For those wondering the University of North Dakota is in the market for a nickname as they are retiring the old nickname of the Fighting Sioux. So oddly, for once they could actually end up being the Wrambling Wreck–though that is very unlikely. Being from the same hometown as UND Senti is probably aware how entrenched his college name is locally. However, even if the good folks of Grand Forks no longer have the Fighting Sioux to root for they do have Senti.

Senti’s career trajectory, like that of chipleader Jonathan Duhamel, and many poker players involved a big decision about life and his occupation. One day in 2007 Senti recognized he was making more money playing poker than he was at his 9 to 5 job. Senti started playing poker at night in 2005, in 2006 he moved from tournaments to cash games, and has been crushing it ever since. He left his job in electrical engineering and devoted himself full time to his new vocation. In 2009, he finished 21st in the World Championship of Heads-Up No Limit poker at the WSOP.

Senti could have been sitting on a bigger stack when he returned had he won a big pot with eventual bubble boy Brandon Steven. Though Senti watched his one time 4th biggest stack dwindle down during the day it was that critical hand that really changed his momentum. With 10 players left Senti almost busted Steven.

Steven got all his chips to the middle preflop when he looked down at the relatively big hand of Ace King straight. Senti felt compelled to call with unsuited King Ten and didn’t like it. He liked it even less when he saw how dominated he was. He would need a 10 or an unlikely straight or flush to catch up and it didn’t come. Steven and Senti stood up to watch the board come.

The flop of Queen, five, Eight didn’t do much or either. The turn punched Senti in the stomach and took all the drama out of the room as an Ace fell. The meaningless river card was a six. Steven had hope for a moment but ended up giving Senti’s chips to somebody else and still finished 10th.

Though Jonathan Little’s career is young, and he is noted for transitioning from online poker to live poker rapidly, he wasn’t quite the overnight success his results might indicate. In his first year, he put up no results and his adaptation he believes came a little too slow. He started the multi-table tournaments like he would a sit ‘n go which was probably too tight, he admits in retrospect.

He also cites an early result at his very first live tournament, a 22nd place in a huge field (Grand Casino Tunic Poker Tournament – WSOP Circuit event), as perhaps giving him a little over-confidence that his online skills would transition quickly to live poker. Cashing again two days later, only reinforced that belief. Once, he got in tune with the patience that live poker requires and adjusted to the slow pace of play, his live results started to mirror his online results (which include a second place in a Sunday Millions).

One of the holes, if there are any, in Little’s career is a lack of bracelets. With the bulk of his live success coming in the WPT, Little attributes that to being able to astutely play solid competent players and struggling a bit with the inexperienced, tentative players that come in as dead money to the World Series of Poker. That being said he’s still cashed six times in the World Series.

After banking his second place in the Sunday Millions he attacked the World Series in ‘06 for his first four WSOP cashes. Again, he had success from the start. He cashed in event two with a huge field but only for a little under 3500. He followed that up with 26th place in event 4, returning to his Limit Hold’Em roots, and banking a little under 10k. Event 17 was another massive field and another min cash for Little winning barely more than his buy-in with $1578. Event 22 brought a 37th place finish good for $8,621. Those were just unsatisfying nibbles to jcardshark though.

The following year he added two more No limit Hold ‘em cashes both in big fields for little over the minimum. In Event 19 he came in 93rd for $3,844 and in Event 49 128th for $4,731. Juxtaposed against his million dollar scores on the World Poker Tour the World Series had to be confounding for Jonathan, and indeed it’s a testament to his abilities that even though he struggles with lesser players he’s still been able to wade through the huge fields to pick up some cashes.

His 2009 year perhaps didn’t measure up to the successes he enjoyed in the lightening quick start to his career but again it’s all about perspective. Many players would call winning around 200k a great year, but for a guy that has won 2 million in a year its a lull. There is no reason to believe Jonathan won’t soon be climbing the mountain top again and its only a matter of time before his wrists get weighted down with some World Series bracelets as well. Though his been at live tournament poker for half a decade and many kids are modeling their careers after him, he’s still a young up and comer and one of Poker’s top young guns.

Just as he did with limit hold’em he decided to advance himself by starting at the low buy-ins and working his way up. He set a number of games to play at each level and then after conquering each level moved up. In no time he found himself playing buy-ins of $100 and $200. His dedication to strict guidelines is a model for aspiring poker players to utilize careful bankroll management as they incrementally improve their games.

Little, known by online handles FieryJustice and jcardshark, quickly made a name for himself dominating those sit n’ gos. When he transitioned to live tournament play and started final tabling everything that experience was a big help to him. His first cash in the season VII of the WPT just like in season VI was for a victory. He won a little over 1.1 million at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals. He also showed some Heads-Up prowess finishing 7th in the NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship. Good for another 75k. It became apparent that it didn’t matter where the tournament was being held the young circuit player had the potential to go deep.

In a Cardplayer interviewafter winning the Foxwoods World Poker Finals, Little discussed his skill set:

JR: You are known for being an excellent sit-and-go player. With the blinds and antes as high as they were, did you basically hit a point where you were on autopilot?

JL: I made a fold earlier in the heads-up match that I normally wouldn’t have made had it been a sit-and-go. I held pocket fours, and he pushed for about 25 big blinds. I didn’t think he was playing very aggressively heads up, so I decided to fold and wait. Had I been playing an aggressive player, I would have definitely called and taken the shot at busting him right there. So, while I do know those push-fold situations back and front, they don’t always apply to live tournaments.

This a revealing comment that gets to the heart of Little’s poker acumen. Many online players are on so called autopilot, making decisions in live tournaments as though they were multi-tabling four tournaments online, but Little is able to play the player, the situation, and adapt to the moment. The difference between winning and losing can be minute, and clearly auto-calling with pocket fours might have been a huge mistake.

Live players’ leak at times is an inability to know the math and play in the moment perhaps too much, whereas Little can do both. His is representative of the new generation of players that got their start as teenagers learning the correct moves in an environment that rewards pushes small edges and winning due to volume, then transitioning to live poker where playing the player can be equally as rewarding.

Little is certainly a pacesetter for all the new young hot shots that have followed in his footsteps. Many have followed the exact same career arc, winning in sit ‘n gos, transitioning to big multi-table tournaments, and then at 21 attacking the live poker scene. It’s no surprise that Little has now become a poker coach, teaching the very tenets that made him a big winner from an early age. His blog can be read on www.gulfcoastpoker.net, and his lessons can be gleaned at www.floattheturn.com.

Little’s success in poker tournaments happened mostly in one place the World Poker Tour and that started in Januaray of 2007.  At the Caribbean Poker Adventure he placed fifth and won $317k.  It was an event that featured many of the best players who play poker tournaments online and were too young to play live poker tournaments.  At the L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino he added another 35k to his bankroll.  Though the cashes came early in his poker career it actually didn’t feel like it.  Prior to it, he confides he had been running a little bad and hadn’t won anything.  Already down nearly 250k before the event the money came at just the right time.

The next year was even better for the youngester.  In 2008, the WPT named Little the World Poker Tour Season VI Player of the Year.  He started that season off with a win at the Mirage Poker Showdown.  Taking down over one million in winnings hinted at the bright future he’d have in live play.  The fact that he conquered a final table featuring Phil Ivey, Amnon Filippi, Darrell Dicken and Jon Friedberg had to be as much a confidence boost as the million was a money boost.  In fact, the win motivated him to give living in Vegas a shot. 

As seems to be a life truth for Little, the future came quickly. Shortly after his Mirage Poker Showdown he was going deep again.   He just missed a final table when he came in 7th at Gulf Coast Poker Championship played at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.  That was a homecoming of sorts as Pensacola is a short drive away.  He still banked 93k but regretted bubbling the TV final table.  He made up for that in no time as he made yet another World Poker Tour television broadcast later that year.

He finished 2nd at the North American Poker Championship and won 680k. Suddenly, he had gone from a kid with a lot of potential to maybe the most feared player on the tour. In his first five cashes, he had a 5th place, a first place win, a seventh place, and a second place. There are professionals who grind a living for twenty years without those kind of results he had reached in his first two. A min cash at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic all but assured him the WPT Player of the Year Award and added almost 30k to his bankroll.  For the year he won just short of two million dollars. 

Prior to devastating live poker tournaments, Jonathan Little spent some time in school studying pyschology at the University of West Florida.  Perhaps, his studies translated to getting a feel for his opponents as empathy at the table is an often overlooked skill.  Playing in a game at school, including five dollar tournaments and 25-50 cent cash games, he dove head first into the thought behind poker and cites The Theory of Poker and other books by David Sklansky as one of his early influences. 

Little started playing online poker and quickly grew his bankroll to 35k.  It didn’t take long to realize he might have found his calling and a career.  Getting active in poker forums was a another big help in advancing his game.  Reading other up and comers thoughts on situations and new ways to look at poker honed his game. 

Another positive influence comes from good friend and talented professional poker player Shannon Shorr.  Shorr, a Tuscaloosa native, gives Little a run for his money as the best young player from the Gulf states.  Little cites Shorrs calm and even demeanor, in the face of bad beats and in winning big hands, as one of the stronger characteristics he admires in him.

Yet, it’s almost like if doesn’t happen at the WPT or WSOP Americans are none the wiser.  So when this years WSOP came around Mercier put his stake in to poker’s firmament and to say you can now call me a bracelet winner.  He bested a large Pot Limit Omahafield to capture his first bracelet.  That was worth another 200k+.   Still Jason hadn’t gotten the memo to become a name pro you not only have to do it at the World Series it also has to be televised.

So, he trudged on in anonymity but then he got his TV final table.  It hasn’t aired yet, but it will, and Mercier, in yet another loaded final table at the World Series of Europeoutlasted two November Niners, and battled toe-to-toe with eventual winner Barry Shulman and second place finisher Daniel Negreanu.  Still, it was disappointing for Mercier because he saw a huge chip lead vanish, but he pocketed almost half a million for fourth.

That tournament saw Daniel Negreanu move into first place all time for tournament winnings.  Yet, in less than a year it’s amazing that Mercier’s already won a quarter of Negreanu’s lifetime earnings.  As for money won in Europe he has to be one of the all time leaders if not number one.

There are a ton of young guns supposedly chomping at the bit who  cut their teeth online and are ready to take over the live poker world.  They always say that, at least for the last five years, Mercier at least is proof they are out there, and they are taking over.

Mercier swore in his Cardplayer feature that once you get to know him the hard part is to get him to shut up, even if it is table presence hints at the opposite.   Same may be true of his tournament poker career, once he won his first one it may be impossible to shut him out of another.  His most recent live tournament score, just another in his collection, came when he won the 2,500 pound No Limit Texas Hold’em event at the 2009 EPT London.  He earned just over 115k pounds which is roughly 185k dollars.

That recent victory in at the EPT London gives the young man from Florida over $3.9 million dollars in total lifetime live tournament cashes.  You’d think Mercier with his French sounding name and so many scores in Europe was a Euro but he’s not.

In 2008, Mercier announced himself to the world by winning the European Poker Tour San Remo main event.  Nice seed money for the start of a successful live career.  Yeah, it was for a paltry 1.37 million dollars.  Mercier didn’t stop there.  He managed to go deep enough to cash a couple of times in the 2008 World Series of Poker but his signature results were still on European soil.

So it was no surprise when Mercier went back to Europe to play in another EPT event and to hit it big again.  At the EPT Barcelona, Mercier didn’t quite win the main event, but still managed a sixth place finish.  That was another 300k+ to his bankroll.  People in Europe started paying attention even if the folks in the U.S. hadn’t caught on.